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Along the Natchez Trace

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Yesterday's Adventures... Part II

Hola! I did a couple loads of laundry this morning... had it all hung out to dry before 6:30am. Good thing, because around noon the thunderstorms rolled in... heavy rain, lots of banging and crashing. But except for a pair of jeans, the clothes were dry and ready to put away.

Of course we took our usual walk into town... the bakery and the grocery. Also, we must have loaded our backpack too full, because the seam alongside the zipper busted out... we dropped it off at a local shoe shop to be fixed... pick it up manana.....

So no new pictures of today to post.... but... plenty left from yesterday....

I'm holding a Chestnut-mandibled toucan.... he lives at the Pura Vita Botanical Gardens.... I don't know the circumstances of him being there, but he's definitely a tourist attraction.

The Pura Vita Botanical gardens is a multi-attraction resort... lovely landscaped gardens and walks... gazebos tucked away in remote spots overlooking the valley.... several waterfalls; some plunging hundreds of feet over the mountainside...... As well as two restaurants and a lovely gift shop.

I don't know if hotel facilities are available or if the resort is mostly day-use. But here are some photos of the land and the views....

You can see an inlet of the Pacific Ocean waaaaay down in the valley....

One of the paths wandering through the botanical gardens....

If you look closely, you can see a waterfall ..... we could see vultures and wood storks wheeling around below us...

Another view of the bay.... it's a LONG way down....

And another photo of the gardens... I don't know what this tree is called (Phillip?) but these strings of pea-like "pearls" just grow out of the trunk.

Another waterfall.... this one is along a path where we saw a half dozen or so macaws. It's kind of magical to come across these secluded places that are just begging a person to come sit a spell and relax.

Well, of course I have to include some more jungle pictures....

That's Freddy in the lead, then Bill.... then I'm bringing up the rear. I didn't dare get too far behind these guys as the path was quite narrow and the foliage was often over my head.

I felt like I was in an old Humphrey Bogart movie or something... Freddy would stop and listen.... say things like "there's a troop of monkeys moving through".... or "there was a sloth here a day or so ago, let's see if he's still around". (he wasn't)

Can you find the bats in this picture?

There were 6 of these black dot on this tree trunk... yep! those are the bats! (3)

And this is another species of bat. Tiny little thing, but easier for me to spot than those black dots!

I had a little adventure Sunday evening... there was a snake in our bathroom. I won't include his picture here... partly because by the time I was ready to take his picture he was in 3 parts ;-)

I asked our guide if there were snakes here in the jungle...

(Duh......)

To be honest, I did know the answer to that, but just wanted to make sure Freddy knew the answer....

So I kept my eyes peeled for snakes....

No snakes.... but we came across several iguanas....

The biggest one we encountered was only about 3'... maybe a bit less.... this is a male (see the "spike-like" things on his back?

I think this one is a female (no spikes).... these guys do have predators, but here in the national park they are protected from human predators (poachers).

When the iguanas are young, they are more green colored. The sunlight filtering through the jungle shown upon a full-grown male and he looked like copper that has oxidized.

Beautiful!!!

Just down the road from the park was the crocodile river...

These two monsters were just hanging out.... the big guy in the foreground is at least 10' long.

Well, you know I can't write a blog without including at least one bird picture (the toucan doesn't count... he's someone's pet)...

So...

Here's the bird of the day...

A Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

He was in a swampy area with some Anhingas and several Jacanas. There were probably some shorebirds there too, but by that time we'd run out of time and headed back.

Hope you enjoyed this adventure and we're glad you came along. If this rain quits, I might find something interesting to write about tomorrow.

Not sure if you were serious about snakes in Costa Rica, however there are over 130 different snakes in CR and 17 are poisonous. The fer-de-lance, bushmasters and coral snakes are among the most dangerous. Yes, there are a lot of really dangerous snakes there.

About the rain, you could be in trouble. The rainy season starts in May and goes on through November. You may luck out and this rainy time may let up. We learned to get everything outside finished before 1pm to avoid the afternoon downpours. Good luck

They have total immersion Spanish language training in CR and I think there is one near Cuidad Colon. It's a good way to learn enough Spanish to get around. Useful terms like: quiero una cerveza bien fria. From your earlier pictures it seems you have the above statement down pat.

About Me

I am Sharon Wallace, my husband is Bill Wethington. In January, 2001 we took possession of our 27' Lazy Daze Class C motor home and began our adventures as full-time RVers. Our first trip out was to volunteer with Alaska State Parks on the Kenai. Since then we have traveled in the lower 48, several Canadian Provinces, and spent several winters in various States of Mexico. We often volunteer at National Refuges throughout the USA. Our interests are varied: Bill has been doing genealogy research for about 25 years; we started geocaching in 2005; we are avid, but amateur birders; I enjoy photography..... the list goes on and on.
As you can see, the title of my blog can mean several different things... take it the way you want ;-)